Faith Bible Church

SBL: 15.16-2-54
Location: 3500 Mohegan Avenue
Contact: Site Design Consultants Joe Cremele, engineer, Larry Delfino, architect
Description: Proposed additions to existing one-story church building and associated parking.
 
June 22, 2009, work session
Discussion of site plan
This is the first appearance of this project before the Planning Board.  The existing church and 2 smaller buildings are across Mohegan Ave. from Mohegan Lake.  The proposal is to enlarge the church building by expanding its footprint and to improve the site's parking.  The sanctuary currently seats 210 with an average attendance of 160, but with much higher peaks at major religious holidays.  The plan is to provide 340 seats and increase the number of services and evening group meetings.  The building expansion itself will require a zoning board variance.
 
The site will be short 21 parking spaces if the building is expanded as proposed.  This deficiency will require a second Zoning Board variance. An existing house and driveway on the site will be removed and replaced by parking.  Some of the parking areas will be paved with some as of yet unspecified permeable pavers.  Making the parking areas out of permeable materials will offset the increased impermeable surface due to the building expansion.  The stormwater management system will be located under one of the parking areas.  One parking area will have an 8 ft retaining wall due to the steep slope.   
 
The septic system will be replaced by an ejector system connected to a Peekskill sewer district main on Route 6.
 
The project will need both Town and State wetland permits.  There will be incursion into the wetland buffer.  Mr. Tegeder told the applicant it would need a wetland mitigation plan.  The applicant said it had already shown the plans to the CAB, and it had no comments about a mitigation plan, but Mr. Tegeder told the applicant to quantify the wetland buffer incursions with an eye toward mitigation.
 
The enlarged church will not block any neighbor's view of Mohegan Lake.  The Planning Board told the applicant to get input from ABACA, especially about lighting in this residential neighborhood and about the potential for car headlights to shine onto residences.
 
The Planning Board said a full traffic study was not necessary, but the applicant should look at defining and redesigning the nearby intersection of Sagamore Rd and Mohegan Ave.

August 10, 2009, work session
Discussion Site Plan
The major changes in the proposed plan are a realignment of the intersection of Sagamore Rd and Mohegan Ave and a realignment of the buildings  front entrance at the request of ABACA. 
 
At the request of the Fire Marshall, two parking spaces were moved in order to free up access to a fire hydrant and provide a staging area for emergency vehicles.  A second fire hydrant was added on the other side of the site.
 
The church is currently on a septic system, but this will be replaced by a 3-4 forced main connecting to the sewer on rte 6.  The possibility of the rest of the neighborhood connecting into this forced main was discussed, but was deemed unfeasible due to the small size of the forced main.  However, the applicant is willing to install a dry sewer for the neighborhoods future use, as long as it already has the road torn up.
 
The storm water management plan is not finished yet.  Mr. Tegeder urged a clean up and consolidation of a hodge podge storm water management structures currently on the site.
 
Wetland mitigation was discussed.  The applicant pointed out several wetland mitigation projects:  removal of impervious surfaces from the wetland buffer, removal of the septic system, installation of the dry sewer line.  Impervious surfaces in the wetland buffer will be reduced 31% and in the Mohegan Lake buffer 14%.  These are substantial reductions in impervious surfaces.  Mr. Tegeder pointed out that there are further opportunities for wetland mitigation in the area across the street, especially valuable if this is found to be public land.  At this time, the ownership of this parcel is unclear, but is being researched.  Mr. Klaus directed the applicant to provide more details about wetland mitigation.
 
Parking space requirements were discussed.  It is unclear whether the required number of parking spaces depends on the size of the building or the number of seats in the sanctuary.  Mr. Klaus directed the applicant to research this and also to provide information about the hours of operation and how the congregation is expected to grow.
 
A public information hearing will be held September 14th.
 
September 14, 2009
Public Informational Hearing
The engineer and architect for the project reviewed plans that included increasing the square footage of the building from about 6,000 sq. ft to 15, 700 sq. ft., adding additional parking spaces, realigning the intersection of Sagamore and Mohegan Avenues and providing the dry sewer for Sagamore homes, all as previously discussed.

The applicant will also plant a tree buffer on the two sides of the property that abut existing homes.

The architect is still reviewing plans with ABACA and currently has two plans: one for 340 seats that would require some stacked parking, and a second option with 303 seats that would not be fixed and which would require fewer parking spaces.

The applicant has met with the Conservation Advisory Board to discuss wetland mitigation measures and in response to a question from Mr. Flynn said that he is open to discussing any additional measures that could be taken on the adjacent town own land by the lake edge. Additional discussions with the CAB are anticipated. In response to a Sagamore Avenue resident who was concerned about additional runoff from the site, it was explained that all the stormwater runoff from the site would flow in a southerly direction and would not affect the nearby homes.

The public informational hearing was closed.